Hirabad, Hyderabad

Hirabad (sometimes spelt Heerabad; Urdu: ﮨیر آباد; Sindhi: هير آباد; “Diamond Town”) is one of the oldest parts of the city of Hyderabad in Sindh, Pakistan. Before partition in 1947, Hirabad was a thriving township of wealthy Hindu Sindwork merchants and traders who generally belonged to the Amil and Bhaiband castes of Hindu Lohanas.

When the town was settled in the 1920s and 1930s, these Hindu merchants build extravagant palatial houses for themselves. Following Partition, Hindu elites left their homeland leaving behind their properties to be taken over by Muslim refugees who had fled from India.